Mat 14:24-25, 24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. 25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.
Jesus dispersed the crowd He had fed and bid His disciples to board a boat and cross to the other side. He on the other hand retired up the mountain to pray. Jesus preferred the solitary place to connect with the Father to being around the multitude thronging Him. As the evening approached, the disciples sailed in the absence of Jesus. In the darkest hours of the night, in the middle of the sea, the waves and the wind wildly rocked the boat. It was when they had toiled all night to stabilize the boat and their strength was spent that Jesus appeared walking on water, walking on the raging storm.
Jesus always comes in the storm, He may delay His arrival but He will come all prayed up. Most of the faith lessons are learned in the midst of the storm. Note that anytime He wanted to deepen their faith, He took them right in the middle of the sea where none of their backup plans could ever succeed. If they operated near the shore, it would be possible to navigate, create backup plans and return to the dry land. The feeding of 5 thousand was a great lesson on faith, but as we shall see shortly, that lesson was short lived.
Even in the absence of Jesus, His heart had not departed from them. The boat could not break or capsize, He made the way. In our lives are people and circumstances we dread, but it is through these that the greatest blessing of our lives will come if we cease to toil to fix or stabilize our storms and look to Christ.